Calemine
by floramew
Summary: A young, battle-experienced woman- whose dress and physique often cause others to mistake her gender- travels to Kalos to challenge the Pokémon League and further study Pokémonic Geology with the regional expert, Professor Sycamore; however, Team Flare and strange feelings seem to complicate these plans... [[Calem has been genderbent, everyone else remains as they were.]]
1. Commencement

The day Calemine arrived in Kalos, it was quite sunny, with only a few clouds in the sky. She was thankful for the pleasant weather as she helped her mother's Mienfoo move boxes into the new house. It was odd to be living with her parents again-she'd been living on her own since she went to school in Unova, three or four years ago now, but her father's transfer to Unova's Kalosian military base, in Kiloude, coincided with her own desire to move here-so cutting costs seemed smart.

She hauled the last box up to a high shelf upstairs in her room-or, it would have been her room, if she'd intended to stick around-and met her mother on the stairs.

"You've a letter from the local Professor, Calem!" she said, before wrinkling her nose as she caught wind of her daughter. "But before you go anywhere, _missy_, you've _got_ to take a shower."

Calem sighed and started to say, "Oh, come off it, I'm not that-" She'd lifted an arm to sniff at an armpit, and was cut off by her own smell. "Fine," she finished, and called over her shoulder as she went back up the stairs, "but I'm not staying the night. I've missed you guys too, but I want to get going sooner rather later."

She hurriedly got dressed afterwards and ran out of the house with a rushed "Bye!" called over her shoulder, and met two girls outside. She quickly learned they were her new neighbors, of sorts-though she explained that she wasn't planning on sticking around.

"Oh, we aren't either," said the taller, older girl-Serena, was it?-who still slightly younger than Calemine herself. "We're challenging the League too, you know. I'm a bit surprised the Professor even knew who you were, really, since you've just moved here. I did, too, but my mother's... well known." She waved a hand dismissively. "You, on the other hand..."

"Well, I should _hope_ he'd know who I was," Calemine replied, "seeing as I transferred here more to study under him than for the League. Put applications in for both, but yeah."

"...Applications?" Serena tilted her head curiously, as the two started to lead Calem down the path.

"Well, yeah. I mean, I'm pushing twenty now, it's not exactly like I've never had a chance to do this before. Everyone gets one shot free, I imagine, but you don't exactly see many people my age doing this."

The younger one, Shauna, whistled. "Dang, you _are_ old. I thought Serena and I were a bit old to be doing this at fourteen and sixteen, but like, wow."

Calemine mock-pouted. "Now that's just mean. ...Oh, hey, those guys over there are waving at us. Friends of yours?"

Serena nodded, and dragged Calemine over to the table. "This is Tierno and Trevor," Serena said, motioning to the tall, heavily built young man and the much smaller apparent-nerd in turn. "And boys, this is Calemine."

"Just call me Calem, please," she said, sitting down.

Tierno said, "Yeah, what sort of a name is Calemine, anyway?" Calem nodded and began to say something, but was interrupted by Shauna asking if they could get their Pokémon now. "All righty, then," Tierno answered, "here they are! A pokemon each for the dude and dudettes."

"Serena, Shauna, Trevor, does anyone mind if I just go ahead and take the Grass-type? I always do if I can."

Shauna and Serena both shrugged, and Trevor asked, "Why are you asking me? I already have my Pokémon, it's just you three."

Calem cocked her head. "Soo... Right." She put her hand up to her face in frustration as she said, "Tierno, you know I'm a girl, right." It wasn't a question by the tone so much as just rhetoric.

"You are? Oh, I guess that explains the name, then. Sorry dude. ...Dudette."

With a shrug, Calemine took the Pokeball with the leaf on it, leaving Serena to take the water drop and Shauna to take the flame-who asked as she did so, "You seriously didn't notice? Jeeze, you guys are really blind sometimes."

So they spoke a bit more, and eventually set off-Calem with her new Chespin, Ironbark, by her side.


	2. Competition

Very little of note happened to Calemine for a while. There were a few rival battles between the girls, but as their Pokémons' first ever battles, it was rather anticlimacitc, truth be told.

Shortly after leaving Aquacorde, she took it upon herself to try to explain to Serena and Shauna how to catch a pokemon-Shauna was quite thankful, but Calem realized halfway through her explanation that Serena was only one pokemon shy of a full team already. Later, Calem felt a strong sense of déjà vu in Santalune Forest, only to realize how similar it was to Viridian when she was accosted by a Pikachu. The paths even seemed mostly familiar, so she only had to spend a single night camping in those woods before she reached the exit.

She waited for her new, younger friends-even Tierno and Trevor were only fifteen and seventeen, to Calem's chagrin- to meet up again at the end of the forest and spoke more, but Calem found it hard to match their enthusiasm and began to lag behind.

Somehow, she was still the first of the three girls to challenge the gym; she suspected it might have to do with the fact that the local boutique had many more things for dressier girls than understated folks, though there were plenty of other distractions in the town for new challengers to occupy themselves with. Calem, however, made a beeline to the gym, pardon the pun. Without much ado, she carved her name into the winner's plate on a statue in the anteroom with the Bug Badge in her newest badge case, and was leaving just as Serena and Shauna came in together.

"You've already won?" Serena gasped. "That's not fair. We're supposed to be doing this thing _together_."

Calemine shrugged. "I hope you girls enjoy this, but I'm really in it more for the money than the adventure. Well, the science too, but seeing as Sycamore didn't even deem to meet me in person..." She trailed off meaningfully, the clearly-fake grin on her face echoing the irritation in her voice.

Serena crossed her arms and grimaced at the girl opposite her. "Just because you're older doesn't make you above us, you know. And anyway, I'm pretty sure the Lab's in Lumiose, which is the next town over, so you'll get to meet him soon enough."

With a shrug, Calem answered, "Yeah, and I know the professors are busy and all, but with his lab so far inland it's... kinda rude not to come meet me, since he had advance notice and all. Not as a trainer, mind you, that's common enough-but as a potential research assistant, it's a _little bit_ on the shitty side." Serena's eyebrows rose and Shauna covered her mouth. "Right, sorry, I'm terrible at not cursing, whatever. Point is, I hope you guys have fun, but well... it's just not as exciting the, uh..." Calem stared into space as she counted off her fingers. "I don't know if this counts as the fifth, sixth, or seventh time around? And that's only counting when I've actually been a legal trainer, not to mention how I followed popular trainers' progress and play-battled when I was too young to get a license."

Neither Serena nor Shauna seemed to know what to say. "Right, babbling, anyway," Calem said as she picked up her bag and started to leave, "I, uh... Heh, 'smell ya later,' I guess."

"_What?_" said one of the two-or perhaps both, Calemine couldn't quite tell-and she tossed her chin over her shoulder and explained as she walked through the door, "Just something a friend of mine used to say, don't mind me. Good luck!"

The route after Santalune, Route Four-it had another name, but Calem was so used to referring to the paths between towns and cities by their official numbers that she couldn't quite remember the local names-was easy to speed through, and she did just that, until she was hailed by a dark young girl and a pale young boy. Well, not really all that young-probably right around her own age, truth be told, but when she wasn't feeling incredibly old compared to other trainers, she was caught thinking of herself and anyone her age as still "kids".

Sina and Dexio, they were called. They told her about the new Fairy Type as if this was news-and well, it was, but Calem didn't mention that she'd read about it in science journals some months ago already. Still, she hadn't realized that there were Fairies on this very route, so was about to leave them to catch some when Sina offered to take her to the lab.

"Oh, so he still can't be assed to come meet me in person, eh?" Calem said, crossing her arms. "Well, he's made me wait, so I'll pay him the same respect. Anyway, his other two 'dex holders for this year shouldn't be too far behind me. I'm gonna go get those Pokémon you told me about-thanks for the info, by the way-and then sit right on my hands until those two show up."

What they say about 'the best laid plans' does seem to hold true often enough, but for once, there were no outside circumstances to change anything. The hours ticked by, and afternoon turned into evening as the sun set and finally, Sina and Dexio took the three trainers through the outskirts of Lumiose. They stopped in front of a very homey-looking office building, with warm-toned bricks and plenty of windows, and Sina said, "This is it! We've arrived at the Sycamore Pokémon Lab! Let's go inside, then, shall we?"

Dexio stayed in the foyer as the four girls crowded into the elevator inside. Sina somehow managed to press a button-Calem couldn't see which, or how many there even were-and they were up and away. Seconds later the doors opened and they all spilled out of the elevator in a mess of arms and legs flailing to keep their balance. Calem heard one of them-she thought it sounded like Shauna, but she wasn't quite sure-say, "Oh no he's hot."

Calemine rolled her eyes as she hoisted her bag back up onto her shoulder, but as she looked across the lab and saw her himself, she couldn't disagree. He was quite a bit younger than most of the other professors, though not quite as young as Aurea Juniper. Professor Krane from Orre probably wasn't much older either, but she wasn't sure whether he actually counted as a full-fledged Pokémon Professor.

He was walking towards them and said joyfully, "Ah, so we finally meet! All of you, come this way, won't you?" He led them over to his desk, where he launched into a miniature speech.

Calem rolled her eyes and scoffed as he thanked them coming all the way from Vaniville town, and stopped paying much attention to his spiel for some seconds. She'd heard the same several times before. She noticed after some seconds, though, that the others were handing over their Pokédexes, so she dug hers out and did the same.

Sycamore, however, hesitated when reaching out to take it. "I don't recognize this model, did you not get a new Pokédex from one of my assistants?"

With a blink and a blush, Calem pocketed the device and got out the newest model she'd been given. "Right, sorry. That was the first 'dex I got back in Hoenn, it was just the last one I'd used recently, so I just, eh, forgot..." She held out her hand again, minus the confident flourish she'd had the first time, and the Professor took it after a moment's hesitation.

He ran all three and handed them back to their owners, at which point he finally seemed to understand. "Ah! You must be the transfer, then, oui? Why the League challenge, if I may ask? You could have just started here immediately."

Calem shrugged. "I didn't want to assume there was a position open, and this year's internship applications had already closed. And anyway, my field's geology. Traveling goes with that, and so does battling-I'm here to look at Mega Stones, mostly, though the fossils and any region-specific Stone evolutions are likely to play a factor into my research as well."

"Ah, yes! I remember that now. My, in person you have quite a... _je ne sais quoi _that I hadn't quite expected." Calem knitted her brows, unable to decide whether that was a compliment or not. "Well, as that's the case, how would you like to battle? I've some new Pokémon I've been itching to show off, and you seem like a fine candidate to do it. Shall we?"

"Honestly?" Calem answered, "I do battling, but it's... not so much my thing. I'd be willing to bet Serena'd like to, though."

As her name was mentioned, Serena stopped the fidgeting and rocking on the balls of her feet she'd been doing the past several minutes, and looked from Calemine to the Professor. "Oh, I _would_ so like to, if you don't mind?" she said, smiling nervously. Calem waved her ahead, and so the two battled.

Shauna and Calem sat back and watched the Professor slowly but surely lose to Serena's fewer but higher-leveled Pokemon. Shauna was awed by the Kanto Starter-Pokémon, but Calem was rather bored. She'd been hoping they were something new. At least she could get them in her Kalos Pokédex, she supposed, and did so. Some time into the fight, Tierno and Trevor joined them on the sidelines of the lab to watch. Trevor flinched every time an attack missed and caused some papers to be singed, or a wastebasket to spill its contents.

After not too long, though, the battle was through, and after a quick round in a healing machine, Sycamore offered the starters to each of the girls. "My apologies, though," he said as he offered them. "The choices here are not truly equal, and given Calem here is working to research, I must insist that he takes the Charmander."

All three girls were speechless for a few moments, followed by a short burst of talking over one another-and the professor's attempt to placate them-in which no one understood a single word another said. It took a very loud beep from everyone's Holo Caster to shift the attention.

Trevor said from the side, exasperated, "Good. Now if you'll let the Professor explain, I'm sure he has his reasons." He looked over to Sycamore, who seemed quite as startled as the rest of them.

"Ah, well, thank you, Trevor. Well, I was saying-Blastoise and Venusaur both have Mega Evolutions, but I recently discovered that Charizard has not one, but _two_ Mega Evolutions, and two different stones it may react to. I don't believe any of you can do much of anything with these stones yet, but as a future student of mine-did you say you had previous field experience, Calem?"

Calem nodded silently in response, though she still held a grimace on her face. "-and as this is the only documented case so far of branching Mega Evolutions, well... Given the trouble I've had with triggering it myself, and his field of study, I must override your personal preferences and give the Charmander to Calem. Serena and Shauna, you are free to decide among yourselves which of the other two you'd like, though." It didn't take long for the two to agree that the Bulbasaur would go to Serena and the Squirtle to Shauna.

"Yes, well, now that that's settled," Professor Sycamore said, "and that you're all here-apologies to keep you two waiting, Tierno and Trevor-I have something I'd like to say. All of you! Be the best trainer you can be. Still, though, remember to have fun traveling with your Pokémon. And all of you-not just Calem-I would like all of your help investigating Mega Evolution, a new kind of Evolution that occurs in battle." He went on to explain and describe Mega Evolution, and Calemine sat back and let her mind wander.

She'd really have to make sure to correct Sycamore's notion of her gender soon. Not that there was anything wrong with being a dude, but she wasn't. Calem's attention was brought back to the present, though, when she noticed her fellow trainers starting to leave. She hoisted her bag up and started to follow them, but was stopped by a touch at her shoulder. "Ah, not so fast," Professor Sycamore said as she turned around.

"Yeah?" Calem answered with a smile that didn't quite reach her eyes and a lightly tapping foot.

"I wanted to apologize for putting you on the spot like that. I always enlist my young trainers in helping my research, and usually, they are equally uninterested in it, unless it's something that helps them to get the edge on the League Challenge. So, as you can imagine, normally there's no harm in letting each choose their own path and making it exactly as they'd like it to be; given what I've already said about Charizard's branching Mega-Evolutionary nature, though..."

Calem shrugged, and said, "Doctor Sycamore, I get it, it's cool. Thanks. It's rather late, though, so I should probably get going." The words were a bit harsher than Calemine had intended, but she wasn't particularly bothered. Somehow, though, she'd already forgotten about the gender issue so completely-aside from some extra irritation that it brought-that she didn't even have the thought that she'd forgotten to do something when she went down the elevator.

When she came out on the first floor, she saw her new friends and fellow 'Dex-holders talking to an older man with wild red hair and a very expensive looking suit. She butted in and said, "So, who's the old geezer, then?" with a joking tone and a smile on her face.

He eyed Calemine with a raised eyebrow and a frown, answering, "I am Lysandre, and you're no beauty yourself, girl." He turned his gaze from her to roam across the other four and asked, This is the other trainer he chose, then, yes?" The others nodded affirmative, though Shauna also mentioned something along the lines of calling that unfair. Calem didn't quite catch it, as Lysandre spoke over her, "Ah, I notice you all have Holo Casters!" He started to go on about those, and Calem silently slipped out of the group, with a whispered 'be careful' to Serena.

Calemine couldn't place it, but she had a bad feeling about this man. Well, sure, the insult didn't help matters, but what was he doing talking to a gaggle of teenagers, anyway? She asked the attendant at the desk to keep an eye on the group, and stop the kids if they tried to leave with this Lysandre, and then quickly left herself.

She tried to head north from the Lab to see if she could rent a room at the famed Hotel Richissime, but found herself blocked by a construction worker-who said there was a power outage and that no one was allowed into the affected areas without good cause-so Calem shrugged and turned back.

After a quick glance behind her to the laboratory, windows lit up from the lamps inside against the cool, dark night out here, Calemine began to head west-where her map and League Guide said the next town she should visit would be.


	3. Coumarine

The days and nights rolled on, and Calemine progressed on her League challenge. She sent reports on what little she could find of interest while training back to Sycamore's Lab via Holocaster, but her interest in geology only coincided with the Professor's field of study where it came to Mega Evolution, and for quite a long time that was just out of the question. When she was able to finally make a report, she called and asked Sycamore to come meet her in person. She doubted he would to begin with, and he never did respond to that query, so she'd intended to send her results as usual via the Holo on the same day that he showed up.

Calemine hadn't been paying particular attention to her surroundings when she entered the tram station at the base of Coumarine's cliff, so she rather jumped when she heard someone call, "Ah, Calem!" She whipped around to find the Professor sitting on one of the benches along the wall, with a very glamorous woman with dark hair sitting next to him. He beckoned Calem over and continued, "I hear you've finally obtained everything you need for Mega Evolution-a Mega Ring for trainer, Mega Stone for Pokémon, and a strong bond between the two of you. Congratulations!"

Rubbing the back of her neck, Calem responded, "Well, given that stunt in the lab, it's not so much 'congrats' as 'everyone would have felt too guilty if anyone but me _got_ the Mega Ring. Can't we make more, or something? It's really not much use if there's really only one of us studying it."

The woman next to Sycamore chimed in here, saying, "So, you're Auggie's prodigal protégé, then? It's nice to finally meet you, Calem. Call me Diantha" They shook hands, and the woman continued, "So, what's this about a 'strong bond'?"

Calemine rolled her eyes. She _knew_ the theory. She couldn't describe it in the detail-or with the artistic flair-that Professor Sycamore could, but she felt foolish for it nonetheless. On the other hand, Calem had half a notion that Diantha was asking on her behalf, as if she didn't already understand but hadn't wanted to ask for some reason. She turned to go, but she was stopped by Diantha. "Calem, don't go, I shan't take up any more of dear Augustine's time, he'll be all yours in just a moment. I've got to go, anyhow. I have a feeling I'll be seeing you soon-I battle Pokémon myself, you know. And, if you ever have the need to dress both formally and stylishly, come to me or one of my stylists in Lumiose, and make sure to give them this card," which Diantha handed to a quite stunned Calemine, "and tell them I sent you. You don't _have_ to do that, but they're rather expensive otherwise." She turned to leave the station, calling behind her, "But I've really gotta run, now. Don't forget to call me, Auggie!"

Calemine watched Diantha leave the station, then sat down with a chuckle in her throat and said, "Some girlfriend you got there, Prof."

Sycamore gave Calemine a look that was equal parts fear and disgust. "No. That-She is my sister. Please don't imply otherwise again." He chuckled and raised an eyebrow, but it seemed a little half-hearted. "When we're together people always seem to draw that conclusion, and it gets really old and, well, rather strange."

Calemine nodded in agreement and said, "I know that feeling too well." It wasn't quite the same, but mostly. "Which reminds me-" Calem started to say, but Sycamore had started to speak at the same time she had, causing her to shake her head and tell him to go first.

"I was just going to say that before your report, I wanted to give you this Hidden Machine, Fly. It should be quite useful, hm?" He handed it to her and continued, "Right, so, that report. I understand it isn't anywhere near done, but tell me what you've got so far..."

In the excitement of working on something that was actually feeding into live research, Calemine forgot to see if the Professor still thought she was a dude. Well, it's not like it wasn't right there on her application; and she wasn't actually _trying_ to pass for a guy, it was just how she usually dressed. She got on the train that evening deciding not to worry about that any longer-there's no way he could've not noticed, even as long as it had been since they'd last met in person... right?


	4. Café Lysandre

Calemine sat at a table in a very red café, wondering how someone as intelligent, as talented, and as driven as it takes to become a Regional Professor at Sycamore's age-she didn't remember the number off hand, but it couldn't be much over thirty-could also be _so incredibly dense._

Earlier, when she'd been called on her Holo by Sycamore just after defeating Clemont, she couldn't quite believe her ears. "Café Lysandre? Prof, have you _seen_ the suits that hang around there, I don't-"

"Oh, I suppose it's a bit fancy, but you'll be fine, mon amie," said Sycamore, his little hologram waving nonchalantly at nothing. "If you're that woried, though, the boutique isn't far, non? Take your time, Cale, if you must, but not too long. A plus tard, mon ami!" And the hologram had clicked off without giving Calem a chance to get a word in edgewise. She remembered thinking the professor seemed a bit off, but who was she to say-they had only spoken in person a few times, with most of their communication via text and files sent, one-way.

Of course, she didn't buy anything at the Lumiose Boutique, though she did go check it out. She was balking at the price tags visible on the window displays to begin with. While she was more likely to go for men's wear, which she thought she could see in the second story -or, wait, was that the 'first' in Kalos?-she wasn't confident that it would be much less than the fare on ground. Even so, Calemine was surprised when she entered the store and the clerk turned her out without a second glance. She wasn't very proud of the insults she flung at the poor woman, but at least no one else seemed to notice.

So she ended up just wearing the nicest thing she already had with her, and made her way to Lysandre's extremely suspicious Café in a rather wrinkly pants suit and a less than stunning necklace and bracelet pair, with a matching clip to keep her lately-rather-shaggy bangs out of her face.

There weren't too many people inside the café-and most of them did not seem particularly fancy. In fact, she didn't see a single other Team Flare member after passing the one standing outside. She rather felt overdressed, but by the time she'd decided that, she'd already seen Sycamore sharing a table with Lysandre himself-and had been seen. Lysandre even beckoned her over. So she walked and sat down at one of the chairs, and was greeted with, "Calem, mon amie, you look... strange."

Before she could answer, though, Lysandre added, "Well, this is an improvement from last time, at least, even if that necklace is... interesting."

"Well, I do apologize for being proud of stones I found and jewelry I made myself," Calemine responded with false politeness, though she eyed their wine glasses and the half-empty bottle between the two two men in front of her, and wondered if the sarcasm wasn't lost on them.

Sycamore looked at Lysandre in surprise, and started, "You knew he was-ah..." but was glared down rather quickly by both of his companions. After a few moments of silence, Sycamore finally said,"So, you... have been a woman this entire time, oui?"

Calemine took a deep breath. "Yes. Well, 'woman' feels a little old, but yeah, that's the right gender. But that's not the point. You called me here for a reason?"

Sycamore shook his head. "Non, nothing in particular. I just heard you and Lysandre were both in town, and I wanted to spend temps de qualité with mes amis, oui? You have perfect timing, even. I was just talking to Lysandre about Mega Evolution, wasn't I, Lys?"

"Yes, yes," Lysandre answered, and turned to Calem to continue, "And I wanted to cornga-con-gra-tu-late you, as well. I hope to achieve Mega Evolution myself someday."

Calemine waited for Lysandre to say more, but after several seconds it became apparent that was all there was. "Thanks?"

"You know," Sycamore said, "Lysandre is actually of-of royal ancestry. He is, truly... a chosen one."

The two went on like that for a while-Calemine felt they were only a drink or so away from the 'I love you man' point, but they never said anything quite so funny; it was mostly just bragging about the other friend there. Calem rather felt like a third wheel, though she supposed that these two lovebirds wouldn't have an audience otherwise.

Lysandre eventually shifted into the philosophical drunk, and said some things that were very alarming to Calemine, about a legend of a king and his ultimate weapon, and stating directly that he thought it was terrible, but indirectly seemed to support it-"washed the world clean of the era's filth" were the exact words, if she recalled (and heard) that correctly.

So she sat, and stared at the King's Rock Lysandre had given her when he left. If he were just any man, that drunken ramble would mean next to nothing-but Lysandre was a powerful man, and she couldn't understand how Sycamore could sit there and just call him 'passionate'.

"Proff Suh-Sycamore," Calem started, internally cursing her low alcohol tolerance.

Sycamore put a hand out and cut her off, saying, "Call me Augustine, mon amie? At least while not in the lab?"

Calemine nodded. "Au-gush-time." Even without the drink it felt a bit weird, but oh, well. "But serioushly, your friend there needs help."

Sycamore-Augustine-whatever his name was-shrugged. "It's his way of looking at things. Of course, it's not the ONLY way to think. Calem!" She jumped at the sudden force behind his voice when he said her name. "What is truly important, now, what's imporant mon amie is the time you spend with others! Treasure these moments you spend traveling the Kalos region, and don't forget to take time for yourself, on occasion."

Calem raised an eyebrow. "Like you're doing, sir?"

Nodding, Sycamore replied, "Yes, just as I am. ...Well, perhaps minus the wine that was supposed to be for you, to celebrate your acceptance of your intern application by my surperiors."

Eyebrow still high, Calemine put her elbow on the table and her chin in the hand above it, asking, "Serperiors? So you've got _three_ regions' worth of Starter Pokémon now, have you?" The Professor rolled his eyes, and Calem continued, "But s-sher-sero- but really, thass awesome. Jus' kin'a wish I was making a be'er impression on my future director, or whatever."

Sycamore put his hand forward on the table and patted it lightly, saying, "Non, mon-er, ma?-chérie, I'm the one who should apologize for the impression. Lysandre and I helped ourselves to this long before you were here, this hardly counts as your party, hm? 'M afraid I cannot spare much time outside of Lumiose lately, but next time you are here, I shall treat you properly, oui? For now-for now, you may do as you wish, be it stay or go. I should be most obliged if you'd stay, though. Help me finish off the rest of the bottle, maybe? It would be shuch a shame for it to go to waste."

Calemine chose to stay, and they spoke about many things-most of which Calem had forgotten quickly, due to the wine. She smiled and laughed and did enjoy herself, but her foot was tapping more and more as the wine in the bottle dwindled. When Sycamore poured the last of the bottle into Calemine's glass-it wasn't even filled up halfway-he asked her, smiling, "I have a tab here, shall we order another bottle?"

One blink from Calemine, and the glowing smile on her face dimmed-it still hung about her mouth, but the warmth had left her eyes. She held out her wrist as if to check the time, barely glancing at the mega ring that had replaced her watch. "My, look at the time!" she said, standing up. "You take this," she said, moving her glass closer to his side of the table, "I don't, ah, think I can finish it. I really must be going though. Smell-hrm. No, no, not that. Ah, how about, 'au revior?' Yes, that's good. Au revoir!" And she was out of the café before Sycamore had even fully processed what happened.

To be honest, Calemine wasn't sure quite what had happened either, but she did know that she wouldn't make it anywhere alone. In a flash of red light, her Lucario, Marius, materialized, and helped her find her way back to the Pokémon Center to sleep.


	5. Comfort

After that merry night at the café, things were different. Technically, the news that Calemine had been officially accepted as this upcoming year's intern at the Sycamore Pokémon Laboratory didn't really feel like 'news' to her. She hadn't had to really fight for her positions for a few years, and as her recommendations list grew, it only became easier.

But after Calem left Lumiose heading north, things were just... different. When she had caught a Haunter-she was fairly certain she'd read that Gengar was a likely candidate for Mega Evolution, at any rate-she had collected and sent off her data. It was really a very minor update, and she didn't really need to send anything quite yet. But she did, and then did something she hadn't done before-sent a call request to the Professor, rather than just a file.

Sycamore's bust appeared, tiny and made of light, hovering in the air over the screen of her Holo as she walked through the swamp. "Hm?" he said, tilting his head in surprise. "Do you miss me already, mon amie?" He was grinning, but with a slightly pained look and a definite squint, and Calemine rather thought he was feeling worse hung over than she was.

So she chuckled, but not too loudly, and responded, "Ah, yes, don't you know I've fallen madly in love with you? But this curse, I can't come near you! Oh, the agony!" The back of her hand was raised to her forehead in a dramatic mock-swoon, and Sycamore chuckled in turn. "But honestly," she said, putting her hands back down, "It's bright, I'm headachey, it's cold, I'm up to my ass in m-" The step she took just then plunged her a good foot deeper into the mud. ...Or would that be thirty centimeters, here in Kalos? Either way, she swore under her breath and continued, "I am now _literally_ up to my ass in mud, and it would just be a lot more bearable if I could talk to someone for a bit. Or are you too busy?"

The tiny Professor shook his head, and answered, "Non, my dear. I can't well leave the laboratory today, but I don't see any reason why I can't entertain a lovely lady such as yourself while I'm here."

"Right, a lovely lady who you had to be told was even a lady in the first place."

The call continued for over an hour, and the banter was witty and mock flirtatious-though most of the latter was on the Professor's part. Technically, it was several calls, given she had to turn off the Holo when she got into a battle and a few other points-but when she finished with whatever it was, she just went right back to talk to Sycamore as if nothing had happened.

That the beginning of the first of many calls between the two as Calemine traveled. Usually, it was just to make idle chatter while in an unpleasant place, or talk about a new finding of some sort with the professor-though these were rather few and far between, without a proper field kit and research goal at the moment-but there was one odd call out that broke the pattern.

In the Pokémon center in Laverre City, Calemine sat on one of the cots available to traveling Trainers and rocked back and forth as she waited for Professor Sycamore, muttering under her breath "Please pick up, please pick up, please..."

"Allô, Calem!" came Sycamore's voice as he happily answered the call, though his face fell into a worried frown as he saw Calem's hologram-the normally bright, if often sarcastic smile replaced by an unfocused look, her normally straight and jaunty shoulders hunched and curled forward, and a slight tremor in the viewscreen which he could only assume was from her hands.

"Oh thank Arceus above. Professor, how busy are you?"

Sycamore waved a hand dismissively and said, "Ma chère, worry not. Whatever it is that worries you, I'll do my best to help."

"I just... need... to talk, I think," Calemine said. "I... Professor, I'm scared. I-I just-did you get the bulletin, a few minutes ago, about the Pokéball Factory?" The professor nodded, and Calem continued, "Th-that was Team Flare. I've seen them around, doing... Arceus knows what, but bad shit. And I just... I've seen what organized crime does. I've been around, you know?" The Professor didn't respond, so she elaborated, "Like, I remember when I was in Kanto, and I heard about Team Rocket taking over the Goldenrod Radio Tower. Or-well, just about anything in Orre. But it's just... it's just _news_. These things happen to other people, why... why am I... Shit, I'm a coward, you know that? A gigantic fucking _coward_." Calem sniffled and squeezed her eyes shut, rubbing the back of her hand over them as she talked. "I tried to help Serena oust the factory, but I got scared and let her do most of it. I barely got up the courage to go after her when I saw her go into a room-most of the factory's one giant hangar, so I was able to see her sweep the floor with the grunts. But I couldn't, and I-I was so close to bolting, to leaving Serena to her fate. It's always been the rising star trainers who finally take down these organizations, a-and... and I don't see anyone but Serena who could be that. But I- I _should_ be that. I've been around the block a few times. I'm older, I should... but I _can't_ and I'm scared..." She did say some more after that, but it was too garbled by tears to be understandable.

On the other end of the line, Professor Sycamore sat and listened to the somewhat-smaller-than-life hologram above his desk talk, saw her face turn away as she tried not to cry, saw her shoulders shake with her sobs when she finally gave in. On instinct, he put his hand out to her, but of course it just passed through the light. He said a few consoling words while she spoke, but didn't know quite what else he could do-until, some time after she finished speaking, a thought struck him. "Would you like me to Fly up there, ma chère?" In front of him, the ghostly Calem shook her head, and he continued, "It wouldn't be any trouble. I can arrange for Sina and Dexio to stand in for me for tonight, as well as Cosette, and Sophie is used to taking over the lab and directing calls to me while I'm around town." He'd stood up and was already getting his coat and things together.

Calem continued to shake her head. "No, Professor," she said, breathing somewhat more easily now, "I'm... You don't need to do that. I'm not really _fine_ but I'm well enough, I guess? Probably as good as I will be." She fished a napkin from somewhere offscreen-off holo?-and blew her nose. "Thanks a lot for the offer-I really mean it-but I all I needed was to get this off my chest, you know?"

"Are you sure?" asked Sycamore, who had stopped gathering, but was still standing up.

With a nod, Calem answered, "Yeah, I'm sure. Really, thank you, but I'll be all right. I'll tell you if I do feel like I need you here, but... That would need to be something pretty big, I think? I'd feel too guilty, taking you from your work, otherwise. Unless it _was_ work, but that's another matter entirely. But, uh, yeah. I'm sorry to have just sobbed to you for like, half an hour or something. I hope you don't think less of me as a field intern or whatever for it. I just-I haven't talked to my folks about anything important in years, and I can't really talk to the rest of the gang-they're younger, they... I don't think they know just how serious this stuff with Team Flare is. They haven't seen the news from afar, it's still just a grand old adventure to them, you know? And while I want to warn them to be careful, I also almost feel like that outlook is what's going to keep them alive, when shit starts going down. My Pokémon listen and sort of comprehend, I think, but you can never be sure and..." With an audible sigh, she concluded, "I'm rambling again, aren't I." Calem rolled her eyes and crossed her arms, leaving her gaze looking away from the viewport of her Holo Caster. "Anyway, I was trying to leave off so you could go back to your work, so I'll do that now. Thank you, Professor. Goodbye."

There was a soft click, leaving Sycamore to frown at his now-dark desk. He was worried for Calem, disappointed at the abrupt dismissal, and confused as to why he felt an acute sense of déjà vu.


	6. Call Waiting

The mid-morning sun wasn't visible through the south-facing window behind Sycamore's desk for obvious reasons, but that just meant that he didn't have to contend with glare on his laptop's screen as he typed. To the right of his laptop, a half-full paper cup from Café Soleil sat, warm but no longer very hot; on the other side, there were various printouts from machines that the Professor occasionally shuffled through, finding a new page to reference.

A buzzing noise emanated from one of the desk drawers, making Sycamore jump a bit, before opening the drawer and retrieving the vibrating Holo Caster from inside. He smiled as he saw the digital nameplate, which read "Call waiting - Calemine," and moved his coffee cup aside to put the Caster in its place and answer. "Bonjour, ma chérie. What can I do for you?"

The hologram in front of him smiled above what looked like a set of bicycle handlebars, and responded, "Morning, Prof! I'm not gonna tie you up for very long at the moment. I've just made it to Dendemille, but I don't plan on sticking around just yet. Want to travel all the routes, you know. And, as I'm sure you know, the other end of, ahh... Brun Way the sign here says-is Lumiose. Lots of stuff to do, but it doesn't look like it's a long route. I should be there-what, day after tomorrow? Thought I'd let you know, see if maybe you were serious about that bottle of wine to celebrate my official internship position you mentioned a few weeks ago, you know. If you're too busy, that's cool too, certainly don't want to get in the way of any good science-ing you're doing."

Sycamore shook his head, his stray bang bouncing in front of his face quite jauntily. "That should be no problem at all. Call again when you're closer to the city, would you? Maybe when you see the gate house, but before you've actually reached it." Calem nodded, and Sycamore continued, "Good, thank you. I should like some time to finish up whatever it is I'm doing before you arrive, so that should just give me time for that."

With a grin, Calem nodded again and said, "Sounds good. Seeya tomorrow, Prof!" and her hologram disappeared with a click.

After the call ended, Professor Sycamore picked up an old style receiver-no viewport to the telephone at all-and dialed two numbers. "Sophie?" he asked after a moment, "I'm likely going to be away from the lab for the afternoon of the day after next, unless there's something that needs my immediate attention. Would you mind taking over while I'm out? -Good, thank you. ...No, no, it's nothing like that. Yes, well, thank you again." He hung up the phone and took a note pad out of his drawer, wrote a few words on it, peeled the top piece off of the pad, and stuck it to the corner of his laptop; then he counted something off on his fingers silently, looking up at the ceiling. He finished with a satisfied nod, and went back to work.


	7. Conversation

Calemine leaned on the wall of the gatehouse to Route Sixteen, grimacing at the creased pamphlet-map of the city she held out in front of her. After several minutes of staring, with the occasional glance above it, she finally folded it up-technically along the creases but the pamphlet was nowhere close to the order it had been in when she'd grabbed it from the display in the gatehouse-got on her bike, and started to attempt to pedal through the crowd and across the width of North Boulevard to the apparently slightly less populated alleyway ahead, which-hopefully-would lead Calemine to Jaune Plaza.

Before she made it halfway across, though, she thought she heard her name, among the din of the crowd around her. When she turned her head to look around, Calemine saw a hand waving above a head of dark and wavy hair. Sure enough, after stopping for a moment to look (people behind her be damned, there's plenty of road to use) she could see that it was Professor Sycamore. With a smirk and a roll of her eyes, Calem got off her bike and walked it backwards to the corner she'd been on before-it was rather impossible to turn a bike right around in heavy traffic, after all; it's not like you can just suddenly be facing the opposite direction without having to go through the other hundred and seventy nine or so degrees, not in real life, because this most definitely wasn't any sort of video game.

...Calemine pondered what caused her to have such an odd thought as she waited for the Professor to make it the rest of the way to her, but dropped the notion like a hot potato when he was finally close enough to talk to conversatonally, when she asked, grinning, "So, you just couldn't wait the extra-what, five minutes?-for me to drop by the lab?" She put the back of her hand to her forehead and dramatically swooned, continuing, "Oh, dear me, I seem to have accidentally stolen your heart! What ever shall I do?"

Sycamore grinned in return, but with a roll of his eyes as well. "Not quite, Calem. I had been spending time with the Pokémon in the lab-which didn't require much easing out of aside from telling Cosette to take over for me."

With a laugh and a shrug, Calemine responded, "Well, that's good to hear! My ..._debatably_-feminine wiles shan't distract you from your research then. So, what's the plan, then, Prof?" She started to pull and twist at her bike then, gradually folding and telescoping it into a smaller package while listening and talking.

"No, no, don't call me that right now," said Sycamore with a shake of his head and wave of his hands, "save that for professional matters. I'm here as a friend, so call me Augustine."

Raising an eyebrow, Calemine answered, "All right, then... Augustine. Kinda thought you'd only said that before because you were drunk. Still doesn't answer what we're gonna do, though. I mean, it's a bit early in the day for that promised bottle of wine, so...?"

This caused Sycamore to pause, first pointing his index finger at nothing n particular, then bringing that hand to rest against his chin. "Well, yes, I suppose it is," he said. "In general, anyhow. Well, how about lunch, then?"

Calemine grinned and said, "Sounds good to me. Probably better than wine anyway-this way, we might actually _remember_ the conversation, which is a _just a bit_ useful for getting to know one another, and all." She smiled wryly at him before continuing, "So, where to?"

A dramatic shrug involving the necessary raising of Sycamore's shoulders as well as a small flourish of his hands, accompanied by a head tilt, was Calemine's answer.

Calemine huffed at him with an irritated frown, crossing her arms . "Well I'm not exactly a Lumiose native, like someone else here. At least give me some recommendations, all I really know about are the battle restaurants Le Nah and Le Yeah-which, I'd like to avoid because my Pokémon and I aren't really up for all that right now. One of the cafés would be nice, but there's _so many_ that I just haven't any idea which is which and where we might get a tasty lunch."

"Hm." Sycamore-wait, no, _Augustine_, Calemine mentally corrected herself-put his index finger and thumb to his chin in thought. "There's only two that I go to very often. I get my morning coffee from Café Soleil, and when I get lunch there the sandwiches are quite good, though I can't speak for the rest of their menu. I know the menus of the other rather better, and all of their offerings are quite delicious."

Raising an eyebrow while finally putting a small chunk of metal and plastic that was once a bicycle into her bag, Calemine asked, "Oh? And this mysterious other café is...?"

"Café Lysandre," Aug-Syc-_the professor_-said, earning a small groan from his companion. "Hm? Why the long face?"

"Well, mostly, I just don't like him much," Calemine said, "though I'm beginning to think he's connected to Team Flare-" at which point she was cut off by a sharp noise from Sycamore. She looked at his face-eyes wider than usual, nose slightly flared accentuating the downwards turn of his mouth, and finished, her tone flat and unamused, "I take it you don't agree."

"That is a very serious accusation, Calem," answered the Professor, slowly, anger coming across more in his demeanor than his tone, "especially for, what? Both are fond of the color red? Please do not tell me you are that trivial."

"It's more than that, _dumbass_. It's how quickly the Holo News got ahold of the Pokéball Factory break-in, and a few..." The irritation in Calem's voice quickly died out. "A few other things, which all could very well be happenstance and coincidence. You're right. I apologize. I'd take it back, if that were a thing that was possible." Her shoulders hung lower than usual, and her head dropped to meet them as she spoke her apology. "You know what? Let's go have lunch at Lysandre's, as a proof of goodwill to you, and of silliness of that notion, to me. And I have it on good authority that the food's even good, eh?" She looked up at Sycamore with that, and gave him a wink, which did at last earn a chuckle from his still-stern face.

"All right, ma amie. Shall we, then?" he asked, gesturing with both arms towards the small side-streed directly across the Boulevard from them.

Nodding, Calemine said, "Yes, we shall."

A few steps later, she added, "Also, I apologize for calling you a 'dumbass'. That was incredibly unprofessional, even if we are currently spending time together as friends, rather than as boss and employee."


	8. Consumption

The food at Café Lysandre was, in fact, excellent. Lysandre or his chefs chose to fill the menu with organic, GMO-free, and otherwise delicious (if expensive) items. Calemine huffed and complained to Augustine about how there was _nothing wrong_ with Genetically Modified Organisms as they waited to order-but that pet peeve did nothing to make the food, when it did arrive, any less delicious.

The coffe, too, was delicious. The barista (if that's what they're called in Kalos? Calemine wondered) even made a little Fleur-de-Lis design in the cream at the top of her cup. She found herself relieved that it wasn't Flare's distinctive flame-symbol, and a bit ashamed that she'd apparently been expecting that.

The staff was courteous, with hair that clearly wasn't red or styled in Team Flare's up-do's, and didn't seem arrogant enough to be a part of the team, anyway.

The other customers were even very pleasant, to a point. Two people dressed very clearly in Team Flare's suits did come in to the café shortly after Augustine and Calem had received their coffee, and Calem had burnt her tongue on it. "Do you mind if I...?" Calem asked, tilting her head towards the table the two Flares had settled, and received an exapserated sigh from Augustine, followed by a bitter grin and a dismissive hand-wave. "I'm giving myself proof there's nothing there, not trying to prove you wrong- Just- Whatever, I'll only be a minute."

So Calemine pulled up a chair by the two's table, causing them to glance at her in surprise. "Sorry, I'll only be a moment," she said to them, "I just noticed those _fabulous_ outfits you're wearing. Do you guys, like, own the café here or something?"

The girl shook her head. "Nah, we don't own it. We just w-" and was cut off by a nudge from her companion. "Hey, what was that for?"

"We just hang out here, but please don't draw attention to us," said the male. "We're on break right now, but we're not supposed to be this far from the job. But you said you like these outfits?" He looked around suspiciously, then opened his suit jacket and took something out of the inner pocket. He slid it across the table, hand covering it the whole way until it was right in front of Calemine, when he took his hand back to reveal-a business card. Calemine picked it up as clandestinely as the grunt had given it to her, and read that it was, indeed, a Team Flare business card, listing some benefits of joining-not bad, all things considered, with a health care plan, dental, a meal plan even, and wardrobe for on and off the job, for only- ...for a "measly" _five million Pen. _

She blinked as the male grunt continued his pitch. "Pretty snazzy, right? Great stuff, workin' for Flare, and this suit is the least of it. There's a number to call on your Holo- you do have a Holo Caster, right?" Calemine nodded, and the grunt picked up again without missing a beat, "Good. Call the number on your Holo and you'll be on your way to get in on this Team Flare action while the gettin's good. Don't wait too long, though-something's brewin' and recruiters are getting stricter and stricter these days."

Nodding, Calemine answered, "Thanks, I'll make sure to do that! But yeah, I've taken enough of your time, and my coffee's getting cold and my friend bored, I'm sure," looking over to indicate the Professor-Augustine, whatever-who was, in fact looking rather bored. His head was tilted, gazing off in to space, and neglecting to drink the coffee he held in his hands, one foot tapping on the ground, with a bright red sock peeking out from underneath his trousers. Calemine blinked at that, but otherwise didn't react, instead turning her attention back to the two grunts in front of her, and finished, "Thanks again, and enjoy your break."

When Calemine sat back down at the table, Augustine's attention was brought back from the void of his inner thoughts, and he asked, "So, enlightening, was it?"

"Quite," said Calemine, with a smile and a nod. "The last of my doubts have been purged. Though smething they said _is _rather worrisome... 'Something's brewing' were his exact words, I think. Either way, though, it's definitely not anything to do with Lysandre."

Augustine's face lifted at the first, though the second half of Calemine's answer made him frown and steeple his fingers on the table. "Yes, that's rather worrisome indeed." Then he shrugged, and continued, "Still, not anything we can deal with at the moment, so it's best not to worry on our day off, hm?"

Calemine nodded in agreement, and they enjoyed their coffee and, when it arrived, their food, until Lysandre himself showed up. He didn't even bother to say hello before he was standing next to their table, asking, "So, Augustine, you take your students out on _dates_ now?"

This elicited a muffled laugh from Augustine, as he tried not to spit out his food. Calemine wasn't so sure what was so funny-she blinked and looked from Lysandre, to Augustine, and back and forth a few more times, uncomfortable in the silence as the latter tried to swallow. Whether Calemine was uncomfortable at the prospect of this being a date, or that the idea that it _was_ one was so funny to her companion, she honestly wasn't sure.

"Lysandre, mon amie!" the young professor finally managed, "You should know better than anyone that I always do this with new-or, well, future in this case-emplyoees. You know how it goes, non? There's the lab orientation and the boss orientation, and all that."

Oh. Well, that made sense. Calemine released a breath she hadn't realized she'd been holding, as Lysandre glanced at her with an eyebrow raised and asked, "Employee? Taking them rather young, aren't you, Gus?"

"Well, I'm obviously more than just a pretty face, _given the lack thereof_, Lysandre." The venom in her voice was accentuated, rather than disguised, by the half smile on Calem's face. "But yes, for your information, I am twenty years old, and I'm interning under him shortly after I complete the League challenge. Oh, and that bottle of wine you drank last time I was here? That was _supposed_ to be my congratulations for being officially accepted as this year's intern." Augustine winced as she said this, and Calemine bit her lip. Right, Lysandre wasn't the only one to blame for that, and that... could affect their relationship, too. Whoops.

"Is that so." It wasn't a question. "I wonder when the board lowered their standards so. Have you even been to university?" As Calemine's eyes narrowed and her head bowed just a bit, he continued, "I didn't think so. Augustine, you really ought to vet your applicants _before_ they're accepted, hm? This," he indicated Calem with a tilt of his head, "is what happens when you don't." With a glance down to the intricately decorated silver watch on hs wrist, Lysandre finished, "However, I must be going. Farewell, Augustine." And with that, he was gone as quickly as he came, walking behind the counter and out of sight into the kitchens.

"_Elitist prick,_" Calem muttered under her breath. She crossed her arms with a huff and said, more loudly this time, "I, ah, seem to have lost my appetite."

Augustine looked back at her with a grimace. "Yes, so have I." He cast a look around the small café and, upon locating a waiter, raised his hand and called, "Check, please!" The seconds while they were waiting for the bill were tense and silent, or at least they seemed that way to Calem. Neither quite met the others' eyes, and both were fidgeting. When it finally came, Augustine signed the paper and sent it off, getting up almost immediately.

"Hey-" Calemine barely got out before the waiter went away with the receipt. "I'd wanted to pay," she said with a pout, causing her companion to raise an eyebrow. "What? Just because he's a giant _dickbag_ doesn't mean I wouldn't pay for food I ate at his restaurant. Even if I didn't eat much..." Her gaze trailed across her half-eaten meal.

"Well, first of all, I have a tab here," Augustine said, ushering Calem out of the restaurant and into the open air of late-afternoon Lumiose. "Or would you have rather waited inside while they ran your credit card?" Calemine shook her head. "And anyhow, ma cher, today is about you. Familiarising you a bit more with Lumiose, its natives, your boss..." He swept a hand out and around to indicate everything around him. "It would be a shame to make you pay on such a day, no?"

With a sigh, Calemine nodded. "Fine, you win. I guess it's too late now, anyhow." She looked around-she hadn't even noticed they'd been walking this whole time until she saw the Prism Tower ahead of them. It wasn't sunset yet, so the lights were still rather few and rather pale against the sun's own light, but it was still quite a sight. ...To be honest, though, it lost some of its charm after defeating the gym inside. True, there were plenty of non-trainer points about the tower, like the elevator directly to the very top of the tower, but it... it just didn't seem so _enchanting_ as it had the first evening she'd been in Lumiose, several months ago now.

Blinking, Calem realized they'd been silent for some time-though whether that was seconds or minutes, she honestly couldn't say. "Er, uh, sorry for spacing. So, what should we do now, Pr-eh, Augustine?"

Chuckling at the vocal stumble, he shrugged. "Anything you want, Calem."

Calemine tilted her head as she thought, then badly suppressed a laugh as a thought came to her. "_Anything_? Rawr, you naughty boy." She couldn't help the wide grin and the snickering that came through her words, but the eyebrow waggle was entirely intentional. Before he could say anything, though, she continued, "But seriously, I think I might just like to swing by the lab and meet the rest of the gang, too. I mean, I've _met_ Sophie and Cosette and the rest of them, but as coworkers yeah?"

Augustine drew a breath. "Anything but that."

"I was _kidding_ about the first part, in case that wasn't obvious."

"No, no, it was," Augustine said, "and that's quite out of the question too, in the case that that wasn't obvious." He smiled at that, and continued, "...I was referring to the latter, though."

Calemine stopped their aimless wander to give him the side-eye. "Eh? What was that about this being normal practice with all of your new employees then?"

With a sigh, Augustine turned to her and looked her in the eye as he answered, "No, no, that's quite true. It's just... I normally don't say as much to the person in question. It makes them feel...special, you see? It's a little misleading, but it seems to make the workplace much more pleasant for everyone involved."

"So why didn't you just answer to Lysandre that it _was_ a date, then?" Her tone wasn't accusatory so much as just curious. "Granted..."

Augustine nodded. "That would've made you uncomfortable, wouldn't it? You've mentioned multiple times when you've been the center of attention, all quite negatively. I meant to say something of the normal nature of this outing sometime today, anyhow, but I hadn't gotten around to it yet, and well..." With another of his dramatic shrugs, Augustine finished, "Then Lysandre happened."

"Heh. Yeah."

"I apologize for him, by the way." At this, Augustine started walking again, and Calemine followed. "He's a big softy under that shell of his-but even then, I've never seen him so...downright unpleasant."

"Hm." Calemine nodded-then opened her eyes wide in realization, and cast a sideways glance at the man next to her. "_Hmm..._" she said again, laced with rather more meaning than the previous noise.

"What?" Augustine was genuinely confused by the sly smile that was creeping up Calemine's face.

"You know, I think..." Calem trailed off. "No, nevermind. It wouldn't be right of me to say it if he hasn't already." Well, that was true, but the tone of her voice made it clear she was mostly being coy.

"_What?_" Augustine repeated, "You can't just leave me hanging like that, ma amie!" The smile on his face belied the frantic tone of voice.

"I think itmight be possible that a certain redhead has a crush on a certain professor." When Augustine blinked and started to deny it, she continued, "I don't know, maybe not. It's just that he seemed to dislike me a _lot more_ after seeing you and I together on what he himself admitted to thinking was a date."

"Eheh... Well... Anyhow, that's why we cannot go by the lab, because the other interns and assistants and the like would be heartbroken." Calemine rolled her eyes at Augustine's less-than-smooth change of subject. "So we can go anywhere in Lumiose, except the lab. And probably Café Soleil and the parts of South Bouldevard closest to the lab."

"That's a pretty restricted area to be called 'anywhere,' isn't it?" Calemine giggled. "Ah, but I... I don't know. I'm not much into city life, honestly. I'l half tempted to ask to just go to your place-not like that!" Augustine's expression was pretty hilarious, the drawing up of his shoulders as he gritted his teeth and knitted his brows, but attempted to smile anyway. "Just to hang out, and I don't know, watch a movie you like, or something. But the way it _sounds_ is exactly why I'm saying it like that-I'm not _going_ to to ask that because that would look rather terrible, heh?" That was harder than Calem thought it would be, she realized as a sinking feeling weighed down her chest. "I'm sorry, I shouldn't have said that at all." Augustine didn't disagree.

"I'm kind of terrible to hang out with, really," she continued, looking at the buildings around them and rubbing the back of her neck. "I either don't talk much, or I talk way too much. There's, like, no middle ground. I just keep going on, long after my companion's bored. And I don't even do much. I'm sort of a stick in the mud-I just do my things when I want to do them, so when I'm trying to do things with someone else, I don't know what to do. Do I just do stuff like I would on my own? But then I'm ignoring whoever. Do I always pay attention to them? Does that get creepy? I-"

"It's quite all right, ma chérie." When Calemine looked back at Augustine, his face was much softer than before. "You needn't worry about upsetting me. And-I have a compromise. Why don't we go to a theater? It's not so, ah..." He drew circles in the air with his hand, as if trying to draw the word he was looking for out of the aether.

"Awkward?" Calemine supplied helpfully.

"Oui, that works-as my apartment; but it is still rather secluded, and more passive than many activities."

Calemine nodded, though she still thought that going to see a movie still felt a bit awkwardly like a date. Granted, there was nothing that would make it seem elsewise, at this point-though at least the professor himself was doing his best to keep it normal and friendly, as well.

When they got there, Calemine was allowed to choose the film-and chose an action flick. This was just as well, as all the lines were in Kalosian and Calemine couldn't understand a word of it, but that hardly mattered given the plot-or rather, the lack thereof-in the flim. It was good fun, and Calemine enjoyed the Kalosian explosions just as much as she would have Unovan ones, though she probably did miss a few jokes, given the moments of laughter of the rest of the audience. The first few times, Augustine attmepted to explain them to Calem in hushed tones, leaning in and whispering into her ear-giving Calemine a very pleasant tickle each time, but she tried to ignore that. The other audience members tended to give them dirty looks for that, though, and eventually he stopped, leaving Calemine a bit awkward and a bit sad.

After they left the theater, Calemine asked, "So, I suppose this is probably the end of the getting-to-know-you day, then?" She tried not to sound as sad about that as she felt.

"If you wish, ma cher, though I do believe it's now late enough for that bottle of wine."

Calemine hesitated. "I'm not really up for dinner yet, honestly. I filled up on junk food during the movie..." She frowned. "That's not necessarily a no, but I don't want to waste your money on a dinner I probably won't eat, you know? I... yeah."

"And I take it you do not want to drink wine without a meal?"

"Well, ah..." Calemine shrugged. "I don't know, it just seems awkward?"

Augustine laughed, and said, "I see how it is. You want to leave tonight while I still owe you, is that it? Guarantee we spend another time together off work?"

Calemine blinked. "No, that hadn't been my intention at all." She wished she'd thought of it first, though. "I suppose we could just go get a bottle of wine and sit around drinking it, if you'd prefer?" She shrugged- just a lifting of the shoulders, contrasting to Augustine's more grandiose gestures. "Though if we do-can it be cheap wine? I'm really not much of a connoisseur, and I don't want to wreck your wallet _too_ badly, eheh..."

"Ah, truthfully, I'm not either," Augustine responded. So they went and retrieved a bottle of rather cheap wine, and sat outside on a bench facing the river that cut through the city, with disposable cups and the bottle between them.

They talked of several things. Calemine spoke of her thoughts on Kalos' stones. "Do you think Geosenge has any relation to the Mega Stones here? I mean, they might be in other regions too, but such a prominent site seems like it could easily tie with them." Augustine thought they were more related to the Anistar Sundial, which Calemine hadn't reached on her journey yet.

They spoke of their families. "I've got an older brother, but I haven't seen or spoken to him in years," Calemine answered Augustine's question. "How about you? Anyone but Diantha?"

Augustine nodded. "Diantha is my younger sister, and I have an older sister. He's the only one of us with any children. Lucas is studying in Sinnoh at the moment, under Rowan, the old battleaxe." He gave a small sigh and smile, and continued. "They're not technically family, but Rowan feels like a second father, and I always enjoy visiting 'Aunt' Drasna."

They were both doing their level best not to slur their words as the darkness grew and the bottle emptied.

There was a moment when Calemine suddenly noticed that the bottle had been placed on the ground between them, instead of on the bench, and that they both held their cups in their hands, and were sitting substantially closer together than they had been earlier. The slight breeze blowing off the river sent a shiver down her spine, and the lights of Prism Tower in the distance behind them reflected in the rushing water looked much nicer than it had in a long time.

Augustine closed the distance between them and put his arm around her shoulders, asking, "Oh, m'petit fleur, are you cold? You sh-"

But she cut him off. "No, no, uh. Ac-actually, I jus' had a thought. I, ah, I c'n transfer data between my 'dexes, so, like, I don't really need them both on my journey, yeah?"

Augustine pulled away from her and looked her in the face, brows knitted. "Hm? I... s'pose not. Why d'you ask?"

"My, uh, my thought's this. What if, like, what if I left my old, Hoenn 'dex with you? I dunno that, like, it would help anything, but it can't hurt, and it has all sorts of stuff from different regions. I dunno, it's not as good as, er, live specimens, but maybe it could help you match any mega stones you...don't...have Pokémon matches for?" At least, that's what Calemine thought she said. Augustine seemed to understand her, but she wasn't confident it actually sounded like she intended.

"Well... All right." Calemine nodded and dug it out of her bag-she'd been toting it around all day, but then, she was used to doing that anyway. When the Professor took it from her, he didn't seem to know quite what to do with it, so Calemine took it back and put it in the breast pocket of his shirt. It was a little large, and definitely too bulky to fit comfortably in it, but it should stay in place.

Calemine leaned downward again and poured the last of the bottle's contents into a cup, and handed it to Augustine. "Guesh tha's it, then," she said. "Well, I, ah. I should get to a room." She stood up and released Marius, her Lucario, who quickly moved to support her weight as she walked away.

"Calem-wait!" Augustine downed the wine in a gulp and scrambled to follow her. "I should at least walk you to your hotel, hm? After getting you, ah, as drunk as all this." He tried his best to walk straight as well, but ended up needing to call out his own Garchomp to help himself stay upright as well.

"What a pair we make," Calem commented, shortly after this. Other than the chuckle she received in return, though, the didn't speak much as they made their way towards the North Boulevard Pokémon Center until they actually arrived.

"Here? But there are other rooms, you could stay in Richmi-Richiss-the expensive hotel," Augustine said, holding Calem's forearm while trying to prevent her from going inside the Center.

"Dude," she said in response, "dude. I'm, like, gonna be here a few days. You _really_ don' need that kinda bill. An' anyway, I'm used t'staying in these, so 'm pretty sure I'd like this better'n Rich-my-ass-y anyway."

"You're sure?" She nodded. "Well, all right, ma cher. Good night, and sleep well." He smiled as he turned around to go to his own room.

She smiled after him and called out, "You too, Prof! And Garchomp, get'm home safely, y'hear?" Calem received a ...claws-up? and a smile from the dragon, and satisfied with that answer, she turned back into the Center to get her own bed for the night.


End file.
